'Food, clothing, housing, electricity, water, education, protection, work, entertainment, ecological health, art, communication, reason, transport, support, enablement...this is not socialism. This is simply good basic human government.'

Wishing you and your family a happy and holy Christmas time. ........... We went for a walk around the suburb today, Craigieburn Christmas Eve, noticing what our neighbourhood cohort had done to somewhat personalise the small houses here. Well done to some. All are pretty well new small houses, 2 or 3 or 4 bedroom, most are owned, some rented. Small yards at the back. Big dry parks here and there, and good bike paths. We eventually accidentally arrived at one of the shopping centres and wandered through. I had a look in jb-hifi and sought out the DVD of Alien, with Sigourney Weaver, and found a box set of 6 Alien films including Prometheus and Covenant for less than $30, so snapped them up, then realising we long ago got rid of our thousands of dvds and any dvd player, so we went to Target or Big W and bought an all regions dvd player for $35, then Mrs Fitz chose the Game of Thrones dvd set as we have never seen that series, but know it to be very good. I read that big video streaming services and cable channels find the classic movies everyone likes and then 'vaults' them away on occasion, to inspire folk to either pay more or to watch something else...to create scarceness, and I don't like that idea of marketing-cunt-capitalism at all, so, owning the actual DVD discs, and at a cheap price, and looking after them, seems a better choice for those really good or loved movies or series etc one really likes and can just watch in perpetuity off line as one wishes. Lovely day, walking about, hand in hand. Kind regards and Merry Christmas from Mrs and Mr Fitz wandering on the park pathway around the town on a sunny Christmas Eve.

A LUCKY Lucky Cat indeed! A couple of months back I put our big Lucky Waving Cat, Mr Xi Jinping, out on the front door porch only then to begin a vicious war with the local crows who kept pecking at it until they had pulled out its waving arm and flown off with it. On our walk today Mrs Fitz and I came upon a bunch of odd items in the grass, as if they had tumbled from a birds nest in the wind, about 50 metres from home, including the stolen arm. I had kept the one armed Mr Xi Cat hoping maybe to one day find a barbie doll leg to replace the waving arm, just to be creepy...thinking a Lucky Cat waving a skinny leg in a Barbie Nazi salute would be an interesting garden ornament... BUT NOW the waving arm is back on Mr Xi. He'll be back on the stoop tomorrow, Christmas Morn, waving up a storm that says 'Yo, crows! I'm back!'

Well, the Australian Prime Minister, who often carried a lump of coal around in parliament as his best friend, reckons he won't be intimidated into recognising that climate change somewhat causes... climate change. He says he believes that climate change exists, for sure, but it doesn't necessarily cause...climate change. Hmm. Just waiting for it all to 'blow over' as is the standard conservative position. And no, his absence when he was on holidays in Hawaii didn't cause everyone or anyone here to be anxious and scared, as he asserts, it just made people feel quite pissed off that their needs in a time of great peril were best addressed by leader having an overseas beach holiday rather than doing the hard work of how to support the firemen and women. As you may know, most rural fire services are totally volunteer based because its cheaper than paying people to do that...and much cheaper than using the army etc who may get hurt or have equipment damaged, equipment that is best used to rain down terror on poor communities on the other side of the world, but after a few months on unpaid leave, doing the heroic volunteering, the bills and mortgages still need to be paid, and they do start to add up. Who would have thought? As for Hawaii, I guess it had to be an overseas holiday anyway, really, because all the good holiday spots in Australia were pretty shitty as they were burning down. A dope, a ponderous inept narcissistic marketing man of the far right...yes, another one.

Australia:I note the prime minister Scott Morrison has returned from his secret holiday in Hawaii as someone found out he was there living la vida loca, whilst the country was burning to death... first he apologised on behalf of his wife, Jenny... and then said he was sorry too...and then said the holiday was really his kids' idea anyway. There's a real man. The calibre. The Statesmanship.

John Fitzpartrick Wine Taster's Guide to the Yarra Valley. "The 57th red wine tasted on the day was a provocative syrah from Domain Wombat Gestaltz. It was cranberry-saffron redolent with hints of wet Hessian-de-saucier wheat bags draped across a citrus infused summer breeze in the Camargue. A fine ethereal and gesticulatingly fanciful wine, robust, true, yet with some whimsy, noted as a fine wine to accompany a pig at a barbecue, following a degustation, or could be just left in the bottle to entertain itself for hours".

Looking at the world and various causes and desires for independence etc...one can think that China, one day will devolve from one nation back into 3, then into 30, then into 300 etc. Hong Kong could be a separate independent state, just like Timor L'este. Yes, that could happen. Hawaii could kick out all Americans and be Independent, yes, that could happen. The Dharug tribe, from Cronulla to Palm Beach and inland to the Blue Mountains, could kick out everyone else in Sydney, Tibet could kick out every Chinese person who isnt ethnically Tibetan from Tibet province, that could happen, the Manchurians could kick out the Han in Northern China and launch a horrid war on Japan, Australia could kick out the American Military from Darwin and from Pine Gap, except, well, in reality, where we actually live, none of those things are ever going to happen. Not ever. As for Ireland, Jesus, the only thing actually stopping the Irish from being one Ireland/One Island, are the Irish.

Thinking, as a not highly bright being, but still somewhat useful, I could still run as a person/contender for the Australian Senate on the basis of my philosophy, and the country would be a much better place. Quiet John: 1: Not fucking up anything good that works. 2: Having a look at the big picture things like climate change and making some decision on working out how folk world wide and nearby could be best protected from that. 3:Free Education from pre-primary to Tertiary Degree level, like it was, and we lost. 4: Free child care and health care, obviously. 5: Better Pay for all Australians who work for other people, and a true and absolute endorsement of the Right to Strike for better pay. 6:Tax the Churches and make all charity the fully funded responsibility of real human Government. 7: Execute corrupt officials. 8: make the Australian military useful to people in Australia rather than in Durk-Durkistan. 9: Not making any public comments nor creating bullshit between elections. Standard Media Interview: Interviewer: "Now, Mr Fitzpatrick, you seem to think you have a better idea than our elected representatives...yet you are not a rich or smart person, by your own admission..." John: "Oh, go fuck yourself. I don't have to be bright to know that you're a low life cunt and so are all the cunts you work for." I think I'd do well in Canberra. I think it is about time.

ALCOHOL and Sydney Australia/Sydney, as a city, isn't so much a success anymore, but rather a disease.

It looks like Sydney City, this year, is doing the right thing, ending the massive Sydney fireworks display on New Year's Eve with a final blast. 10 million dollars invested in 20 minutes seems a bit over the top these days... Good. Fucking Sydney wankers.

WESTPAC BANK: From ancient China, when the banks of the great rivers were not effectively dyked, because that cost money, the local leader would turn up in front of the Emperor, and, basically, stab himself to death for his failure to prepare. It was an effective way to make the next local leader more responsible in his spending. Now, in Australia, a bank can support 20 million events that sponsor world wide child sex slavery, and the CEO gets a few million dollars to happily and respectfully retire. No execution. No penalty. We have grown truly dumber as the times have gone by. As for stabbing the CEO to death, well, yep, I'd be up for it, but he should really be intelligent enough to do that to himself.

I see the Australian Prime Minister has shortened his holiday in Hawaii to come home to the Unexpected Massive Climate Change Caused Bush Fires. Jeesus, didn't see that coming...gosh, I'm an idiot, gosh, how do I get a plane now? I guess the real and stinking problem remains that he can't help anyway. He could have, last year, but didn't bother. Not a believer in that climate change bullshit. Our little Trump.

About a decade ago I noted that it would be a good idea if Australia looked after itself, in terms of climate change defence, and redirected its military towards /preventing/saving australian people and property from the usual ravages of fire and flood...big preparations, big programs, big infrastructure improvements, rather than have soldiers despatched to be killed for various odd goals the americans wanted on the other side of the world, but no one listened. we still honour our unnecessarily and senselessly military dead and damaged instead of preparing for the hot world ahead...because, gosh, we can afford those lives I guess. Obviously, if you are an Australian, then Australian human life isn't everything. First world economy, fourth world respect for the self and others. It is not in our nature to elect smart people who can do things for us. We still pander to bizarre principles that dont apply to ourselves or our land. The Australian Government: the wrong people and, importantly, at the wrong time. the last bright elected leader was Kevin Rudd, and yes, he was a dick, and weak, true, but he was bright and he had the capacity to plan and did plan ahead. The current government, these cunts don't know their arse from their elbow, and, ideologically toads, and remarkably lazy, they can't learn.

A Brief Review Tale of Two Melbourne Restaurants. We don't go out much. We don't go to expensive restaurants much at all. Once a year. For steak, we've been to one restaurant twice in 3 years...Grill on the Hill, in Kew. The steak is good, but not the best, the prices are alarming, and, when busy, the quality goes down. people take people there to impress them, and then talk about themselves and buy ridiculously expensive wines. You get the feeling that the owner just wants more from you, and from their staff. For seafood, Richmond Oysters is more like a cafe, the seafood is great and in huge amounts, and fresh and delightful, and fast. The cost is alarmingly high, for sure, but you do eat extremely well without any need for bread and with not one chip seen or necessary. Just good seafood...oysters, bugs, prawns, hot and cold, beautiful fish, and scallops and mussels. Magical food. You get the feeling that the owner and the people who work there are pretty happy.